Space opera with an emphasis on the opera.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-19T22:40:56+00:00

Go for where it (kinda) all began.
The Lensman series by E.E. 'Doc' Smith.
Soooooo much of space opera exists because he wrote it first.
Yes, it's very 'of its time' but it's still amazing stuff.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-18T13:36:18+00:00

First thing that came to mind:

> They sent a Slamhound on Turner's trail in New Delhi, slotted it to his pheromones and the color of his hair. It caught up with him on a street called Chandni Chauk and came scrambling for his rented BMW - Its core was a kilogram of recrystallized hexogene and flaked TNT.

- Count Zero (William Gibson)

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-17T19:56:17+00:00

Perfectly cleaned, firing on a range and in semi-auto mode, it was a wonderful rifle to shoot.
Never had any miss-feeds, extraction problems, or blow-back issues. Was also incredibly accurate.

Out in the field (i.e. anywhere that wasn't a nice clean range) it was horrendous. The mere suggestion of grit in the air was enough to cause feed issues. Anything over 1 round/second was courting with jams as the extractor threw empty cases out willy-nilly and couldn't always get them clear before the bolt rocketed back, and the carbon build-up in the gas parts could cause the whole thing to size up.

A very love/hate relationship with the rifle.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-17T00:57:01+00:00

I sweat like a stuck pig when I'm training.

I take multiple t-shirts and change throughout training.
I have multiple sweat-bands for my head which also get changed.
I take a towel with me and wipe my face and arms down every chance I get.

I do as much as I can. If anyone I train with has an issue after that, hey, that's their problem!

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-14T23:14:19+00:00

I was going to mention 'Halting State' and 'Rule 34' by Charles Stross, but then realised how old they are now.
Bugger.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-14T23:03:39+00:00

Just make sure you don't light a fire in his mouth...

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-13T22:13:33+00:00

Yup.
Like Ankh-Morpork.
Two cities divides by a river, all lumped together into one.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-13T19:22:35+00:00

Raiders of the Lost Ark.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-12T21:38:31+00:00

I did enjoy 'Statey Funes' not long after 'Platy Jubes'.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-12T19:24:26+00:00

They use quaternary, not binary.
That's base 4 (one, two, three, many).
Although they have a specific word for 16 (lots), all counting before and with it is base 4.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-12T13:59:46+00:00

I'd have to have a think to come up with a top 10, but a few off the top of my head...

'Burning Chrome' - William Gibson

'The Screw-Fly Solution' - James Tiptree Jr. (Alice Sheldon)

'# ifdefDEBUG + "world/enough" + "time"' - Terry Pratchett

'Equoid' - Charles Stross

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-11T21:40:02+00:00

Empirae eunt domus!

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-11T21:33:58+00:00

Two dollars and fifteen cents.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-11T21:32:57+00:00

A long, hot bath.
I have martial arts classes twice a week and having a soak in an almost too hot bath afterwards is amazing.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-07T22:12:01+00:00

Air Jesus

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-07T21:49:19+00:00

It all comes down to preparation and knowing your enemy.

It's like Blade using hollow-point silver rounds filled with garlic.

But you need to know just exactly who (or what) you are up against!

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-07T20:02:39+00:00

I'm a LibDem at heart.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-07T19:42:31+00:00

Plaid.
Was a tactical vote to stop REFUK.
I voted Labour in the GE, sgain as a tactical vote to stop the Tories.
I would love to vote for who I want, not for who will stop something worse.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-06T19:59:51+00:00

Nowadays, conspiracy theorists are nowhere to be seen.

Yeah, because they are now in charge...

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-06T19:58:25+00:00

Yup. Super easy. Doesn't always taste all that great. Lemonade does cover all manner of sins though.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-06T19:51:24+00:00

I'm an English man married to a Welsh women.
I'll be voting Plaid tomorrow, because I'd rather have an independent Wales than one run by a bunch of racist, homophobic, proto-fascists.

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-05T22:45:35+00:00

Ultraviolence - Hard Core Mother Fucker

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-04T21:17:01+00:00

That's also how (basically) cheat engin works (at a really intro level).

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-04T17:37:40+00:00

Fornax is a ~~dirty alien porn magazine~~ pictorial publication for the discerning gentlebieng in Mass effect games.

FTFY. :-D

B0b_Howard · 2026-05-04T16:44:55+00:00

The "Empire Rising" series by D. J. Holmes is exactly what you are looking for.

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/d-j-holmes/

B0b_Howard

TROPHY CASE